| aforementioned
tributary streams and receiving water body, i.e. the Waccamaw
River at Conway. This extended monitoring
is necessary as the watershed's flows are strongly influenced
by seasonal weather patterns as well as relatively random catastrophic
events associated with flooding and hurricanes. Modeling
efforts will be employed to assess the relative importance of
each tributary to the BOD and fecal coliform levels observed
in the River. Source tracing of fecal coliforms will also
include use of a more specific indicator of human wastes (Enterococcus)
as well as the inventory approach of Weisket et al. (1996). In
the latter, the magnitude of potential coliform sources is estimated
from existing inventories of animals (livestock, pets, wildlife)
and average fecal production rates. Additional efforts
will be made to estimate bacterial growth rates in the river
during the summer as well as the potential for resuspension
from sediments as a result of storm mixing and boat traffic. |